Welcome, Guest.
The Collector Zone is a free community for trading card collectors - both sports and non-sports. There are forums for all of the major sports, non-sports, autographs and other hobby-related information. In addition, there are areas to trade, buy and sell with other collectors. Our members have now completed over 48,125 collector-to-collector transactions using our easy-to-use Transaction Manager.

With over 30,500 collectors and over 2,750,000 posts, there's plenty of ways to get involved with the other members - either in discussions or with trading. So, are you ready to join and start meeting other collectors?

Although I'm not active here I appreciate all you have done here past and present. We've sent each other $x,xxx's in free cards and I know you've done the same for others!!!!!!! Know that you are valued here! TCC will make a comeback!!! Bob looks like a ###### now but he is genuinely a good guy and will correct things when he sees fit. Hang in there brother! Please.

This site's revenue is dropping, but is still plenty more than enough to pay for the server costs. The site will likely continue to be "online" because it's still making money. Google Adsense only makes up a portion of the revenue for TCC, and it earned around $85 in the month of April. That alone is enough to pay for the server costs here at TCC. I should also note that April has been the lowest earning month for TCC, so far, this year too (by quite a bit, actually).

MJI can state for a fact that if the site is making that much money on just google adsense that what you see now will continue to be the norm. Monitizing is an important key to web success as if the site pays for itself/ makes money it is much easier to just let it off it's leash and run. Building a new site is not the answer as who here wants to invest the time to promote it correctly? sure yo ucould scrape the members list and invite everyone (not hard)but getting this up and going is tough. The initial cost to use invision, get a name, email and hosting will run about 350 dollars with year over year costs being about 150ish..kinda puts that $85 from adsense in perspective?

MJI can state for a fact that if the site is making that much money on just google adsense that what you see now will continue to be the norm. Monitizing is an important key to web success as if the site pays for itself/ makes money it is much easier to just let it off it's leash and run. Building a new site is not the answer as who here wants to invest the time to promote it correctly? sure yo ucould scrape the members list and invite everyone (not hard)but getting this up and going is tough. The initial cost to use invision, get a name, email and hosting will run about 350 dollars with year over year costs being about 150ish..kinda puts that $85 from adsense in perspective?

just my .02 but I do know what I am talking about

The numbers coming from Google Adsense are showing signs of decline over the last few years. They used to be more than 3 times that.

Is starting a new site "the" answer? Probably not, but when you can't do anything with this one, what else do you do?

Who here wants to invest the time to promote it correctly? Depending on what you call "correctly", I'm sure there are plenty of people who would get involved if it were a joint effort to try to do it.

Also, $150 would not buy a server good enough to host TCC, with all of its traffic, for a year. If you could find a host that claimed they could do it for that, I'd avoid them.

Finally, I've known all along how much money this site makes. I also assume that's why it's still here. It certainly wouldn't still be here if it were losing money.

MJgo daddy will give you the space and bandwidth..reasonably..I manage almost 80 sites there and its reasonable hostingan invision power board license is 50 and then 50/yr for support/ upgrades, email is 20/yr, icann is 0 or so...hosting even at the outside is 125...still enough to make a profit all you ned is a name and some time

MJgo daddy will give you the space and bandwidth..reasonably..I manage almost 80 sites there and its reasonable hosting

If you're talking about hosting a site with the traffic that TCC has on Godaddy's shared hosting, you really have no idea what it takes to run a site of this magnitude. Their shared hosting does not allocate enough processing power, or RAM, to run TCC (or any other decently sized forum for that matter). Space and bandwidth would both be of very little concern when trying to host TCC. We'll just have to agree to disagree here and move on to the next conversation.

You are the man, Mr. Emerick, well deserved.Let's do that, immediately!

We have shed too many tears, sweat and blood to simply let our community die a slow death.

Collect Hard!,RGBII

Well said.

I consider TCC to be my Home (or Homie as the kids used to say not so long ago) trading card forum/site. If TCC were to disappear completely I would feel homeless I'd be an Internet Hobo with no Trading Card Cyberhome. TCC was one of the first card sites I stumbled across, it might have even been the first. It was certainly the first one that "felt like a home" for me.

ON another note I don't know how much this factors in to the TCC community (or even the main subject of this thread) but I have noticed people turning to card blogging rather than trying to deal with forums. Some of the bloggers I follow have stated they used to frequent many card forums but are leaving them in favor of their blogging.

What I CollectWashington DC area Sports teams and Vintage plus Non-Sport.

I consider TCC to be my Home (or Homie as the kids used to say not so long ago) trading card forum/site. If TCC were to disappear completely I would feel homeless I'd be an Internet Hobo with no Trading Card Cyberhome. TCC was one of the first card sites I stumbled across, it might have even been the first. It was certainly the first one that "felt like a home" for me.

ON another note I don't know how much this factors in to the TCC community (or even the main subject of this thread) but I have noticed people turning to card blogging rather than trying to deal with forums. Some of the bloggers I follow have stated they used to frequent many card forums but are leaving them in favor of their blogging.

I believe the intention of the original post was to breathe somemuch needed life into TCC. When it becomes about profit marginsand the pure filth of money, it tends to taint our precious hobby.

While I understand the financial interests of those that havecommented here, nonetheless, it cheapens the end productwhen the "bottom line" is worshipped.

We don't need bean counters, we need dedicated Hobbyists todo what we have done here in the past. That is, put our heartsand souls into the site and our obsession.

End o' rant, where are my meds?

Collect Hard!,RGBII

Richard, while I agree the intent of this topic is to breath life into a horse that has been dead and beaten to death, the larger issues still remain of getting new membership. Beyond that the money issue is a debate about creating a new site, but there is also another side that should be pointed out in regards to the money side. The members of the CZT VOLUNTEERED of themselves for little in reward/perks because of a LOVE for the site, not seeking any compensation other than the growth and expansion of this site that would lead to future enjoyment of the site. There are good and bad CZT as far as doing the "actual" CZT work, as you know, and those doing their parts know who they are and deserve more credit than any common member would even understand, so Kudos to them (and thanks for all of your efforts), but the bigger unfairness currently is we have an owner collecting revenue while ignoring the very people he made the commitment to, of keeping the site growing, the very people still doing a job with no compensation. Not saying the CZT want "paid", but part of being a CZT was being a part of a site which was growing and had new members to share their experiences. One that had an owner committed to making this the best site ever. If the owner doesn't have an interest in that, then why should the CZT or anyone else? Please don't take that the wrong way, I like my family here at TCC, but I also feel for those left in charge, as while the workload may have diminished with the activity, those left in charge and even the members are not getting what we come here for and if new people can't be let it, or the owner doesn't want to commit to the site, I believe things will never change. This is just my opinion, I like Bob, but as a member I feel there is an abandoment which has happened to this site, and not from a presence, but from the ability to not allow someone else commit to take over and bring TCC back up the ranks.

That's what I meant and to put in perspective if anyone were to buy the site from Bob it still has enough funding to support itself while changes were being made that need to be done. it is not like you would have to keep funding out of pocket AND try to make the needed changes

QUOTE(northicehero99 @ May 9 2013, 09:48 AM)

Richard, while I agree the intent of this topic is to breath life into a horse that has been dead and beaten to death, the larger issues still remain of getting new membership. Beyond that the money issue is a debate about creating a new site, but there is also another side that should be pointed out in regards to the money side. The members of the CZT VOLUNTEERED of themselves for little in reward/perks because of a LOVE for the site, not seeking any compensation other than the growth and expansion of this site that would lead to future enjoyment of the site. There are good and bad CZT as far as doing the "actual" CZT work, as you know, and those doing their parts know who they are and deserve more credit than any common member would even understand, so Kudos to them (and thanks for all of your efforts), but the bigger unfairness currently is we have an owner collecting revenue while ignoring the very people he made the commitment to, of keeping the site growing, the very people still doing a job with no compensation. Not saying the CZT want "paid", but part of being a CZT was being a part of a site which was growing and had new members to share their experiences. One that had an owner committed to making this the best site ever. If the owner doesn't have an interest in that, then why should the CZT or anyone else? Please don't take that the wrong way, I like my family here at TCC, but I also feel for those left in charge, as while the workload may have diminished with the activity, those left in charge and even the members are not getting what we come here for and if new people can't be let it, or the owner doesn't want to commit to the site, I believe things will never change. This is just my opinion, I like Bob, but as a member I feel there is an abandoment which has happened to this site, and not from a presence, but from the ability to not allow someone else commit to take over and bring TCC back up the ranks.

That's what I meant and to put in perspective if anyone were to buy the site from Bob it still has enough funding to support itself while changes were being made that need to be done. it is not like you would have to keep funding out of pocket AND try to make the needed changes

Acquisition of the site has been attempted to my knowledge on several different occasions and failed. Not to say that another attempt wouldn't work. Why sell something when you don't need to do anything with it and receive $$$$?

Man I hate reading this stuff, anyone want to make a trade! I myself would at least not post site issues open to the public, I came here not knowing anything about what happened, and rather keep it that way! Been here two years, made some really great friends here, even try my best to contribute to the site, almost gonna hit my 100 trade and 3000th post! But yet, not one single TCC Award, that just is just wrong, lol!

I also feel for those left in charge, as while the workload may have diminished with the activity, those left in charge and even the members are not getting what we come here for and if new people can't be let it, or the owner doesn't want to commit to the site, I believe things will never change. This is just my opinion, I like Bob, but as a member I feel there is an abandoment which has happened to this site, and not from a presence, but from the ability to not allow someone else commit to take over and bring TCC back up the ranks.

Well said. The site has been feeling this "abandonment" issue for a long time. Several members have stated their displeasure in the past and it has damaged the integrity of this site because their concerns were not addressed. Instead, they were told not to ask about it. Some got banned and some just left quietly. This is the result. It's nothing against the CZT. I don't know how hard they work and who does what, but I've often wondered why they continue to cover for someone who didn't even have the courtesy to inform them that he would be away for an extended period of time and not leave them with the resources they needed to run the site. I wouldn't- not for free. Even if I was getting paid, I'm not sure I could stomach that because what's the point? I see posts from people claiming that too many collectors are worried about the bottom line, but then turn around and cover for someone who is exhibiting that very behavior. Dwight makes a good point. It's sad the the owner of the site is on restrictions. If I were a new member, that would make me a bit skeptical of the site as a whole. In baseball speak- this site is like the Chicago Cubs and we're all just stupid Cubs fans propping up an organization that doesn't care whether it wins or loses as long as we continue to show up. Why? A new site is the answer. It's always been the answer. We shouldn't cling to this site because it's comfortable and familiar. The core membership has made this site a great place for even the casual collector because it is/was such a tightly knitted community. It's more than just a place to trade cards. It's a place to share a little piece of life while trading cards. I've seen the community revel in it's members' successes and share the pain of their trials. The other boards don't have that which is why I don't even bother with them. Although I haven't been active lately, I continually lurk in hope that something will change. Instead, it's even deader than it was before and the division is greater. It's gotten so bad that the CZT's concerns are spilling out into the public forums which definitely isn't a good sign. I say it's time to pack up the tent and move to a different location. As long as the core group that built this site alongside Mr. President sticks together, we'll follow.

QUOTE(redwing40 @ May 9 2013, 04:57 PM)

Man I hate reading this stuff, anyone want to make a trade! I myself would at least not post site issues open to the public, I came here not knowing anything about what happened, and rather keep it that way! Been here two years, made some really great friends here, even try my best to contribute to the site, almost gonna hit my 100 trade and 3000th post! But yet, not one single TCC Award, that just is just wrong, lol!

I know what you mean, but it's better than the sugarcoated mularkey that's been passed around in the past.